


The Tudors, Season 1, Episode 1, In Cold Blood

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: The Tudors (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s01e01 In Cold Blood, Episode: s01e01 Pilot, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 01, Series Premiere, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 09:02:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16238417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series. Complete.





	The Tudors, Season 1, Episode 1, In Cold Blood

Open to Ducal Palace in Urbino, Italy.

A man jumps out of an anachronistic carriage before it’s completely stopped.

This is something most present day toddlers know not to do. Admittedly, I’m not sure how many present-day toddlers ride around in horse-drawn carriages, but I’m fairly sure most of them understand the importance of not jumping out of moving vehicles.

Greeting two other men, he complains about been dragged out of bed before seven in the morning. They explain a duke has called a council meeting.

Politely moving aside, some Frenchmen greet the leader when he and company go past.

Not waiting until they’re out of the earshot of the Frenchmen, who most likely do understand English, the leader demands to know why the French are here.

So, it’s official: Most toddlers have a better sense self-perseveration than this middle-aged man does.

As they walk, one of the men disappears. A sense of uneasiness and doom coming over him, the leader looks over his shoulder when he hears the Frenchmen are following him. They attack and stab him.

I don’t know if the other man is restrained by the Frenchmen or if he just mysteriously disappears, too. Neither is ever accused during the episode of aiding the French in the assassination attempt; this leads me to believe the implication is the Frenchmen dispatched them both, although, the show could have been clearer on this front.

Next, an equestrian rides into Whitehall Palace in London.

Inside, ignoring the petitioners, which is one thing I’ve always thought it was cool of the show to acknowledge, Thomas More and Secretary Pace walk-and-talk. It’s revealed the slain man was Henry’s uncle, and Pace says Henry is almost inconsolable with grief.

In a meeting, Henry lists all the aggressions the French king has committed with the latest being the assassination of his uncle. There’s a title-drop, and Henry makes it clear he wants war. Wolsey does a literal face-palm, and Buckingham speaks up. Agreeing, he snidely declares he warned Henry about the French years ago.

Surprisingly, he isn’t instantly dragged away to the tower.

When the show first aired, many expressed their opinion it was a mistake to cast Steven Waddington in the role of Buckingham, not because he’s bad but due to him fitting the physical historical descriptions of young, adult Henry so well. If JRM had the ability to embody what most people think of Henry in terms of personality, to the point his looks not matching were irrelevant, it would be one thing, but many believe he didn’t. Going further, many viewers openly laminated JRM was cast, and their impression didn’t change once they saw him in action.

Personally, I find JRM to be a good actor, but both his interpretation and the writing of Henry are often at odds with my historical interpretation.

Henry asks for Norfolk’s opinion, and Norfolk agrees with Buckingham. Next, Henry asks for Wolsey’s opinion, and Wolsey reluctantly agrees there is just cause for war. Naturally, this leads Henry to put him in charge of arrangements.

Happy this is settled, Henry channels a child who has finished their homework/chores and announces, “Now, I can go play.”

As the council disperses, More makes his unhappiness to Wolsey clear, and Wolsey responds the best thing they can do is try to subtly guide Henry onto the right path.

Next, in Henry’s room, he and Bessie Blount are having sex. Outside, three guards stand at attention with stoic faces as the sounds of both participants carry.

As always, it’s a pleasure to see you, awkward.

Back inside, Henry is the complete opposite of a scholar and a gentleman when he inquires after Bessie’s husband. She reveals he’s threatened to send her to a nunnery, and Henry replies him doing so would be a waste.

In real life, Henry and Bessie did have an extramarital affair with one another, but I can’t help but feel they weren’t as completely devoid of tact and concern for their spouses as the show makes them out to be.

I also can’t help but compare this to The Six Wives of Henry VIII, a significantly better miniseries. Henry’s insanity and tyrannical side was gradually developed, and it showed his genuine fondness for Catalina and Mary in the beginning. Following history, he eventually grew to despise the former and got to a point where he was willing to order Mary’s execution, but at first, his affair with Bessie and relationship with Anne didn’t affect how he treated them. No one at court talked about Bessie and her son, least of all him, and when he first asked Catherine for a divorce/annulment, he told her how much he loved her, said he would be happy if she lived with him and Anne, and swore he would always make sure she and Mary had everything they needed and wanted.

Also, on less important note, her actress and Mary’s were both redheads. I find Maria Doyle Kennedy and Sarah Bolger absolutely brilliant in their roles, but it’s annoying how Catalina and Mary are always cast as brunette/black-haired when, in real life, they and Henry were all redheads.

Back to the review, a carriage rides into Hampton Court in Surrey. Inside, the French ambassador and a priest enter Wolsey’s office. Sam Neil is impressive with how Wolsey calmly points out he’s consistently looked out for France’s best interests and asks how he’s supposed to continue doing so when the French do things such as killing his king’s uncle.

The ambassador claims it wasn’t done under his master’s orders and the men responsible have been punished. Without explicitly saying anything against Henry, Wosley points out Henry is a young hothead who doesn’t understand the horrors of war for those who must fight it. One of the men carelessly proclaims his support for war, and admirably restraining himself from calling the man any number of things he could accurately call him, Wolsey answers, “With the greatest respect, you don’t mean that.”

Agreeing with Wolsey, the priest suggests Wolsey will be able to convince Henry against war.

Now, the next scene takes place on a tennis court.

This will quickly become obvious in any of my reviews involving any sort of sport being played or even just characters discussing a sport: I know little about sports in general.

On a tennis court, Henry and Charles Brandon play against Anthony Knivert and William Compton. Anthony claims they’re just letting Henry win, and William protests he’s playing as hard as he can.

Charles Brandon spots Anna Buckingham. She’s been changed into Buckingham’s daughter rather than his historical sister, Anne Hastings. He declares his intentions to have sex with her. He does it rather loudly, to the point I’m not sure how the whole gallery didn’t hear him.

There’s a moment which, if watched on mute, is legitimately cute. Wrapping an arm around Charles Brandon’s neck, Henry pulls him close, and they honestly look like two best friends. However, the fact they’re making a bet as whether Charles Brandon can actually bed her or not ruins any sweetness of the moment.

I have no problem with characters or real life people who have causal, consensual sex and will protest when they’re vilified for doing so, but I do have a problem when people, fictional or real, aren’t upfront with their intentions. And I’d say having sex with someone who thinks a person likes them when, really, the person is hoping to win a bet falls under not making their intentions clear.

Later, Henry is eating with Catherine, and he asks about Mary. They’re both happy to discuss her, but then, Bessie comes to serve some food. It not being enough to dishonour Catherine behind closed doors, Henry has to publicly do so by none-too-subtly eyeing Bessie. Catherine softly says Henry should be proud of Mary, and he hastily assures her he is. He calls Mary the pearl of his world.

Next, Buckingham appears to serve something.

I’m glad to see you’re having so much fun, awkward.

Catherine brings up the fact her nephew, the king of Spain, advises Henry to sign a treaty with the emperor. She makes her reservations about Wolsey’s bias towards the French known. In an extremely disturbing and uncomfortable move, Henry harshly grabs her arm. He declares she’s his wife rather than his minister or chancellor.

As Buckingham and Bessie watch this scene, the latter looks away when Catherine catches her eye. Taking Henry’s hand, Catherine softly says she wants to be his wife in every sense of the word. She asks if he’ll visit her bedchambers. Instead of answering, he pulls away and orders her to eat.

Later, in his bedchambers, Henry’s changes into his nightclothes, and then, goes to Catherine’s. A blonde woman, who looks a lot like Bessie but isn’t, says Catherine’s still in prayers, and he orders her to give Catherine a passive-aggressive message about him having tried to do his duty as a true and loving husband.

Again, one problem I have with this series is how bad Henry is right off the bat. A later episode does show a little more complexity, but in this episode, Henry seems to outright despise his wife rather than just having lost most interest in her. In real life, Henry fought hard to marry her, was reported to have said prayers with her every night even after they stopped sleeping together, and as mentioned earlier, did try gently coaxing her into the divorce/annulment, at first.

Though the historical Henry could never be called up a stand-up guy and there are debates about whether he was good monarch or not, there was a genuine complexity to him.

There’s a shot of Catherine praying, and then, there’s a transition to the blonde entering Henry’s room. He asks if she consents, and I’m not going to go into how loaded this exchange is. She says yes, and they have sex.

The next day, Henry and Catherine are watching a jousting tournament. Charles Brandon asks Anna if he can wear her favours, and she agrees.

Inside, Wolsey and the two men sit together. Setting down a peace treaty, he tells the ambassador to take it with him and read it carefully. He adds he’s going to want something from the priest in return.

Back at the tournament, the trio complain about Buckingham winning ten times and wonder what he’s trying to prove.

He’s a good jouster? I could be missing something, but generally, when people compete and win, they keep doing so until they either lose or get too tired to continue.

William decides he’ll go against Buckingham, but Charles Brandon declares he will.

However, Henry ruins this plan by riding out in his armour, and it’s announced he’s entered the tournament.

Charles Brandon says, claim or not, Buckingham isn’t the king, and William gives the first hints of Charles Brandon’s obsessive loyalty by noting, “Not all of the court is as loyal as you, Charles.”

I’m not sure I completely understand what’s being said here, but I think there’s an implication Henry always wins due to no one being willing to risk truly hurting him.

Catherine ties her favour to Henry’s lance, and Henry wins against Buckingham.

Later, on a boat, Henry is rowed to the island where the Mores live. Taking lessons from his uncle, Henry jumps off the boat before it has fully stopped. He hugs More. More tells his wife, Alice, to kiss Henry, and the two share a chaste lip-to-lip kiss.

Henry asks More to walk by the river with him. They do sans the More clan, and Henry asks why More won’t come live at court. More bluntly answers he doesn’t like life at the court. This amuses Henry, and he brings up the fact More was quiet during the council on going to war a month ago. More brings up his supposed humanistic beliefs.

Veering away from the review, I admit I absolutely loathe the historical Thomas More. This does colour my perception of all portrayals of him.

Back to the review, Henry labels himself a humanist but says, as king, he must disagree. It’s established More taught Henry law, and calling him “Harry”, More urges him to spend the money that would go towards the war on the welfare of the kingdom.

Despite my dislike of More, Jeremy Northam does do an excellent job with the character and does manage to show a complexity between More as man torn between reason and fanaticism. On the one hand, his portrayal of More is polite, intelligent, openly loves his family and Henry, and he does often make reasonable points and urge compassion.

On the other hand, he’s self-righteous and does things such as having people burned alive in the name of his faith.

Swearing to be a just king, Henry points out his predecessor isn’t remembered for charity and expansion of knowledge but rather for a great war-time victory.

Over at the castle, in the dining hall, Buckingham complains to Norfolk about how Henry has no right to the kingship. He leaves. When he gets to his chambers, he finds Charles Brandon having sex with his daughter, and she doesn’t react like a normal person would to this.

Charles Brandon is cocky and unpleasant in assuring Buckingham that Anna was completely willing. Drawing his sword, Buckingham presses it against Charles Brandon’s chin. Continuing, Charles Brandon announces Anna wasn’t a virgin in the most rude way possible.

Since this is fiction rather than real life, I can’t say, if I were Anna, I wouldn’t be urging Buckingham to kill him after this remark. Or at least, grabbing something myself and smacking him as hard as possible. There’s a person defending themselves, and then, there’s insulting their partner in the process.

Buckingham calls Charles Brandon a son of a whore, and amused, Charles Brandon simply answers, “Yes, that is true, your grace.”

He orders Charles Brandon to leave. Grabbing a piece of clothing to cover his genitals on his way out, Charles Brandon does. Once he’s gone, Buckingham backhands Anna.

Elsewhere, Bessie confides in Wolsey she’s pregnant by Henry. Showing thinly veiled impatience towards her throughout the whole scene, he orders her not to tell anyone, promises to tell Henry when the time is right, and will have sent her away to a private place when she begins to show.

There’s a time jump as, through the snow, Wolsey rides a horse through petitioners. One woman yells out a plea for him to bless her sick child, and a man begs for an audience. Inside, more petitioners crowd him as he talks to Pace. In the crowd is Thomas Tallis, although, he hangs back from the others. Pace compares himself to an eagle, and Wolsey isn’t happy.

It’s revealed Henry is out hunting, and when Wolsey leaves, Pace notices Thomas. Thomas gives him a letter of introduction from a dean. Pace asks why Thomas didn’t present himself.

There’s a brief scene of Henry and the other men riding, and then, Thomas introduces himself to man directing a group of small singing boys.

Later, Henry, More, and Wolsey meet. Wolsey says Henry should be able to go to war in a few weeks. There’s an awkward silence, and Wolsey and More explain their idea of all European countries signing a treaty of universal and perpetual peace. Henry has questions about how such a thing would be enacted and enforced, but as they lay it out, he agrees applying humanistic principles to international affairs is something he could be proud of having as part of his legacy.

He tries to end the meeting, but Buckingham more-or-less bursts in. Explaining what happened, he demands, at least, Charles Brandon be banished. Henry angrily says, unless Anna is making an accusation of rape, Charles Brandon isn’t to be punished.

It always worries me slightly when I find myself on Henry’s side, but in this instance, I do. Obviously, Henry doesn’t want to move against his friend, but I do think, if Anna or another woman made an accusation of rape, he would, at this point in the series, take everything a little more seriously. As it is, two people had consensual sex, and it really isn’t any of his business.

Buckingham storms out.

“Careful of Buckingham, Harry,” More warns. “He may be stupid, but he is richer than you are, and he can court a private army. Not even your father crossed him.”

Later, Wolsey and the French priest are walking, and when the priest plays coy about Wolsey’s reward, Wolsey shoves him against a wall. He brings up the fact he’s saved the French king in more ways than one.

Meanwhile, Charles Brandon makes note of Anna’s bruise, and despite her pointing out her father might actually kill him this time, they begin to have sex.

At the More house, he leads a family prayer before going to pray alone. His back reveals him a practitioner of self-flagellation.

I have to wonder how people who privately do such things as an act of devotion, and then, go out and aren’t religious extremists feel about such media and literary portrayals.

Over to Henry, he’s being shaved, and he dictates a letter to the king of France. He decides he won’t shave again until the two meet.

Next, the priest and Wolsey meet, and the priest reveals the pope is dying. Wolsey is assured Wolsey will be made pope after he does.

In Catherine’s chambers, Bessie has a stomach pain, and Catherine asks if she’s ill. Bessie answers no, and Catherine asks her to stay. Showing how manipulative she can be, Catherine intentionally guilt-trips Bessie about the affair without actually confronting her. However, it’s clear she truly is suffering as much as she claims, and this does makes both her and Bessie tragically sympathetic.

Elsewhere, Henry is in a confessional, and he wonders if marrying Arthur’s widow is the reason God refuses to grant him a son. The priest uncomfortably says Catherine swore before God she hadn’t consummated her marriage to Arthur.

The next day, Thomas Boleyn enters Buckingham’s apartment where a bruised-faced Anna is sitting. In a private room, Buckingham starts to trash-talk Henry, and Boleyn quickly tries to extract himself from the situation. However, he pauses when Buckingham mentions Wolsey and neatly brings up his common background, Joan Larke (not by name), and the two children she and Wolsey have.

Buckingham suggests he and Boleyn talk later.

Boleyn leaves, and the next scene has him playing a board game with a slightly bearded Henry. They talk about France and its king. There’s some homoeroticism in them comparing the French king’s appearance to Henry’s. Asking about Boleyn’s daughters, Henry tells him to return to France at once.

Next, Henry greets Mary in a genuinely sweet moment. Catherine asks if they can talk privately, and once alone, she declares she doesn’t like his beard. Complaining about him agreeing to the betrothal between Mary and the French dauphin without even discussing it with her, she blames Wosley for the idea of making peace with France.

Then, kissing his hand, she kneels down and says, though she loves him and will obey him in all things, he can’t expect her to hide her unhappiness. He coldly insists she must, and withdrawing his hand, he leaves.

In Paris, France, Boleyn informs his daughters they’ll soon meet Henry, and in the process, he awkwardly establishes which sister is which. This exposition could have been handled so much more naturally, especially since Anne is wearing her iconic necklace in this scene.

Back in London, Wolsey gives Henry fashion advice, and they decide to eat together. Wolsey and Buckingham have a brief stand-off, and Henry insists Buckingham apologise to Wolsey. Buckingham replies, “I apologise if I have offended your majesty.”

He’s dismissed, and he angrily rushes to his chamber where he finds Norfolk, Boleyn, and some others waiting.

Are the Boleyn sisters in Paris? If not, how did Boleyn get back from Paris so quickly? There hasn’t been much of a time jump, if any, due to Henry’s beard being the same, and besides, wasn’t he supposed to stay in France until the summit? He definitely was in France two scenes ago.

Be clearer in who is where, show.

Buckingham declares it time.

There are intercutting shots of Wolsey and Henry discussing the summit and Bessie as Buckingham starts to make plans to take down Henry. It ends with Henry declaring he and Wolsey will be immortal.

Fin.


End file.
